A game where the goal is to “earn liberties,” and where building a space of one’s own is more useful than seeking confrontation with the adversary, had to appeal to libertarians of every stripe. But beyond the metaphors, the story of the arrival of Go in the libertarian world reveals unsuspected connections between some of the great intellectual figures of the twentieth century.

The supposed development of Artificial Intelligence during the Cold War was really about an expression of a voracious and destructive raison d’etat that left hundreds of thousands of victims across the planet. This is the story of how chess was destroyed by the shock wave of Hiroshima and how Go, thanks to its anti-essentialist logic more than its combinatorial logic, remains untouched until today.

The birth of videogames and Apple’s first steps, free software’s first steps, and even the platforms that allowed for the organization of tens of thousands of volunteers for the earthquake in Haiti, all have something in common: their creators cited Go as a source of personal inspiration and related it to their form of innovating and thinking. What good is Go to those who change the world?

This is the story of a Russian generation, told as if one were sitting in front of a game board. Because as much as Russia has indeed come back to the world’s geostrategic game, the game being played no longer develops over a chess board – it does so over a goban.

Go reached South America with the first Asian collectives. A century later, it is no longer an exotic game among us, but it still maintains the traveling spirit of the nomad and the generosity of mutual support among migrants.

The association of Go with the Anglo-Saxon intellectual and economic elite hasn’t favored the game in the West. But now, in China, a new generation of parents uses the game to redefine the elite class they want for their society, and to which they want their children to belong.

Go is becoming a phenomenon in American schools. Scientists suggest that it improves children’s intellectual development and “executive function,” while pedagogues say it reduces violence and frustration. But it also offers something even more valuable than that.